Man back in court over several deed fraud cases
The man accused of committing deed fraud, to steal a Schoharie County man’s home was back in court on Friday.
Joe Goodnough is charged with grand larceny. He was in Schenectady City Court for a preliminary hearing in his criminal trial.
NewsChannel 13’s Kumi Tucker had exclusive reporting on this, with the story of how a man claimed Goodnough knocked on his door, asking to buy his house. The man eventually agreed, and signed tax transfer papers.
That man was later hit with an eviction notice and told to get out.
“Mr. Goodnough has done this to many people in Upstate New York and he takes advantage of vulnerable citizens and it’s just, he has to be stopped,” said James Sottile, attorney for David White, a deed fraud victim.
Goodnough’s attorney, Arthur Frost, sent NewsChannel 13 this statement back in December:
“Mr. Goodnough is innocent of the crime he’s accused of. He was simply looking for a house for himself and his teenaged daughter. David White – the person Mr. Goodnough purchased the house from – was about to lose his house because Mr. White was delinquent in his taxes. Mr. Goodnough paid him a fair price and also paid off the delinquent taxes White owed. Mr. Goodnough then rented dumpsters and helped Mr. White clear the house. White voluntarily and intelligently signed a deed to sell the property to Mr. Goodnough, which was notarized. A notary would never notarize White’s signature if the notary thought White was incompetent. We look forward to proving Mr. Goodnough’s innocence in court.”